On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. Within two months, nearly half a million people fled hard-hit New York City. Will they return once the crisis has passed? In this Kenan Insight, we explore how the ongoing pandemic is raising questions about the future attractiveness of large cities as places to live and do business.
Considerable scholarly analysis and media attention has documented the racially disparate impact of coronavirus infections, hospitalizations, and deaths. Constituting 13 percent of the general population, Blacks reportedly account for 25 percent of those that have tested positive and 39 percent of the COVID-related deaths in the United States.
As the U.S. economy begins to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and businesses grapple with ongoing labor shortages, the debate around increasing the federal minimum wage – which hasn’t budged in over a decade – has returned to the fore. In this Kenan Insight, we examine whether now is the right time to raise the standard minimum, why these benefits may come at a cost, and what approach might work best given the inevitable tradeoffs.
In just eight years, 20 percent of all North Carolinians will be 65 or older. Nationwide there are now more Americans in the 65-plus age group than at any other time in U.S. history – with those 85 and older the fastest-growing segment. The Frank H. Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise will shine light on the implications of this demographic shift at the "Business of Health Care: Adapting to an Aging Economy conference" on Oct. 27 at the Kenan Center in Chapel Hill.
We consider two competing supply chains, each consisting of supplier, a manufacturer, and a retailer. The suppliers exert effort to improve product quality, and the retailers sell products competitively. Each manufacturer chooses one of the three strategies: forward integration, backward integration, or no vertical integration.
The SunTrust Foundation will give a nearly $1 million grant to NCGrowth, an affiliated center of the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, to help create new jobs and stimulate transformative development in three high-potential communities in the Carolinas. These business incubators will help startup companies hire local workers in an effort to address issues such as unemployment, underemployment, low wages and significant poverty.
Universities have become essential players in the generation of knowledge and innovation. Through the commercialization of technology, they have developed the ability to influence regional economic growth. By examining different commercialization models this book analyses technology transfer at universities as part of a national and regional system.
Researchers take a closer look at the impact of entrepreneurs, policymakers, scientists and others during the pre-commercial stage of industry formation
On Monday, Sept. 24, a standing room-only crowd gathered at the Kenan Center in Chapel Hill to participate in a fireside chat with Krishnamurthy Subramanian, the 17th chief economic advisor to the government of India. The program was led by UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School professors Anusha Chari and Christian Lundblad.
Sharecare, the digital health company that helps people manage all their health in one place, and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Center for the Business of Health announced the results of the North Carolina Well-Being Data Analysis Competition, a student competition designed to drive local insights around well-being in North Carolina.
While economists have long theorized that wealthier individuals may purchase less life and property insurance because they can rely on their savings if something unexpected happens, a new study of more than 63,000 people shows that, in practice, quite the opposite is true. This week’s Kenan Insight offers a chance for our experts to explore the findings of their new study, which suggest disparities in insurance coverage could help explain and exacerbate existing financial inequalities.
With consumer prices rising for a third straight month in June, consumer demand continuing to outstrip supply and stock valuations well above long-term averages, our experts explore whether the so-called “everything bubble” of asset prices could be set to burst – and examine what’s next for investors and firms.
The argument that ESG investing generates more stable and higher long-term returns has come under scrutiny, including recent data showing long-run underperformance of ESG funds over the past five years. In this Kenan Insight, we provide some clarification based on recent research that revisits fundamental questions: why and how some investors take ESG factors into account in the first place.
We empirically investigate the effect of uncertainty on corporate hiring. Using novel data from the labor market for MBA graduates, we show that uncertainty regarding how well job candidates fit with a firm’s industry hinders hiring and that firms value probationary work arrangements that provide the option to learn more about potential full-time employees.
In Never Stop Learning, behavioral scientist and operations expert Bradley R. Staats describes the principles and practices that comprise dynamic learning and outlines a framework to help you become more effective as a lifelong learner. Replete with the most recent research about how we learn as well as engaging stories that show how real learning happens, Never Stop Learning will become the operating manual for leaders, managers, and anyone who wants to keep thriving in the new world of work.
“Look for your North Star.” “Chase success rather than run from failure.” “Success typically includes failure.” These are just a few of the drops of wisdom that Kenan Scholars program mentors shared at the year’s first mentor panel discussion.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the nationwide civil unrest spawned by the recent spate of senseless killings of unarmed African Americans have illuminated what executive development professionals have been telling private and public sector leaders and managers for quite some time. We are living in an era of increasing volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity—a VUCA World. “Certain-uncertainty” is the new normal in today’s society and economy.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, finding affordable housing was a persistent problem in the U.S. In this Kenan Insight, we look at the factors driving the nationwide affordable housing crunch, particularly for those most affected by it — low income, single-parent families.
Andra Ghent, Professor of Finance at the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business, discusses the current state of housing affordability in an era of high interest rates.
UNC Tax Center Research Director Jeff Hoopes discusses how the tax system figures into the debt ceiling standoff and why we probably won’t see any dramatic increases in taxes anytime soon.